If you had it to do all over....

[Absinthe]

The hypothetical has always been put in the tool forums, if you shop burned down and nothing was left what tool would you buy first? And stuff like that. So in a similar vein.....

If you had to simply start all over, with no equipment or gear or bees, blank slate square #1.

What would you do differently than you did the first time?

[TheHoneyPump]

Pick a standard box size and stick with it for everything. No mix-match in the storage shed of deeps, mediums, etc.
Buy old ratty run down trashing looking boxes, lids, bases, etc that look terrible but are solid wood, sturdy, and fit together precisely.
Buy only BRAND NEW frames and never ever bring any used comb into the operation.
Grow organically, raising own queens and beestock. By necessity start out with some reputable breeder(s) to initially get stocked, then take it from there.
16 foot deck truck with sky hook.

What comes next in the list of equipment and facilities depends entirely on the focus.
- migratory, polination?
- making bees or making honey/wax?

[Oldbeavo]

We match most of your criteria
Full depth, 8 frame, 100%
Bought packs of timber and made our own boxes.
All frames bought in and we assembled them, well my partner is the gun frame assembler.
Grew organically from splits and swarms. Purchased local queens.
11ft x 8ft triaxle trailer with an Easyloader. Towed by Mazda BT50. Carries 50 doubles.
Do pollination and migratory honey harvester.

What would I change?
Acquire a truck with 12ft tray to be able to tow trailer when shifting to pollination or big honey flow. Able to shift 100+ doubles.
Easyloader on trailer would also load the truck.
Learn to graft our own queens earlier in our growth.
Move to plastic foundation from the start.

[Acebird]

As a hobbyist I would have started with mediums and built my own SBB and tops.  That is what I am doing now.  I would stay with wax foundation.  Because of my proximity to Afracanized bees I may have to purchase queens but I haven't yet.

[Seeb]

Excellent topic

[BeeMaster2]

I would make all 8 frame medium box hives. I would build screen bottom boards with oil trays, even though I don?t put oil in them, and screen top boards. Both help to tell what is going on in the hive without opening it up.
I would use only 8 frame mediums Due to weight and most of the time the bees don?t fully fill the outside frames.
I would buy the same 9/18 frame Mann Lake motorized extractor that I have now. It is large enough do handle a lot of honey and small enough to bee mobile and not take up too much space.
Jim Altmiller

[Oldbeavo]

Jim
What size are mediums?
As I am closer to 70 than 60 the full depths full of honey aren't getting any lighter. Our bees do fill all the frames on a good honey flow.
We could cut our full depths down but what do we do with 5000 full depth frames.

[Garigal]

Jim
What size are mediums?
As I am closer to 70 than 60 the full depths full of honey aren't getting any lighter. Our bees do fill all the frames on a good honey flow.
We could cut our full depths down but what do we do with 5000 full depth frames.

Mediums are 6 1/4", the closest off the shelf equivalent we have in Australia would be the WSP frames at 7 5/8" (approx. 192mm) or the harder to find Manley frames at 6 5/8" (approx. 169mm).

Currently use 10Fr deeps and will be trialling 8 frames this coming spring, but I kind of wish I had gone with the WSP hive depth from the outset for the lighter weight and also because it was an Aussie 'standard' for a time; I believe that size was selected due to shortages of larger lumber in WWII.

[van from Arkansas]

Do it all over again::  I would go to the nearest Night Club with one bottle of the finest Wine and one bottle of the finest Honey.  Offer both to the ladies and take home the Lady that ask for a sip of honey.  The rest would work out.

[Honeyeater]

What would you do differently than you did the first time?

I think about this almost daily. I bought my Flow hives on a whim, without having much clue about keeping bees. I almost gave up but persevered and now I'm really keen.

Although harvesting Flow frames is easier, if I had to start again now that I know more about beekeeping I wouldn't touch them. Too many issues for my liking, most of which there are workarounds, but still - workarounds. And the cost - didn't even realise at the time how more expensive everything Flow is, it is ridiculous. Good company though.

If I had to start again I just build a long Langstroth hive or two. No lifting. Easy.

[Acebird]

but what do we do with 5000 full depth frames.

I would assume they are drawn comb... I ran mine through the table saw.  You don't need the bottom bar once the frame is drawn.  You don't need to be accurate either.  The bees will create the perfect bee space between the top bar below.

[beesnweeds]

I'm a hobbyist and if I started over again I would have 8 frame deeps for brood and mediums for honey. All wood frames with plastic foundation. Each hive would have a 5 over 5 nuc next to it for resources, spare queen, grafts, and making comb honey.   I like having the option to split the nuc if the full colonies doesn't overwinter or making a nuc with an overwintered colony if the nuc fails. 

[The15thMember]

Do it all over again::  I would go to the nearest Night Club with one bottle of the finest Wine and one bottle of the finest Honey.  Offer both to the ladies and take home the Lady that ask for a sip of honey.  The rest would work out.

[Hillbilly]

Although harvesting Flow frames is easier, if I had to start again now that I know more about beekeeping I wouldn't touch them. Too many issues for my liking

LOL. I hear you. I sometimes get buyer's remorse too. The quality of some of the hardware I received was shocking. Even the laser cut versions were disappointing. A flat packed cedar FH2 basic brood box is $75 plus shipping. You wouldn't expect it to come with gaps in the joints big enough for a robber bee to sneak in.

Try to raise that on their forum and a war erupts and you get banned.

[Ben Framed]

I would study intently, youtube and beemaster, strive to learn I could before getting started. I would make sure to take notes, keeping up with who taught what. I would seek to have necessary tools and equipment, including wood-ware; enough to stay ahead of the game and need when these items would be needed the most. I would join beemaster when I felt I was comfortable and ready to start posting and asking questions, learning as I traveled on my merry way to beekeeping.

[Beeboy01]

Don't think I would change much from what I'm using now which is deeps for brood and shallows for honey. Using only eight frame deeps has some advantages because the frames can be used for brood or honey but during a light flow the girls will fill out a shallow box faster than a deep box. Another advantage of deeps is the cost, shallow frames are almost as expensive as deep frames but only hold half the honey.
   I've gotten to the point where I don't worry if I get honey in a deep or brood in a shallow so box size has become pretty much a non issue unless it's a bottom brood box.
Eight frame deeps for everything would probably fit my needs the best for a complete start over. Since commercial nucs come using deep frames I couldn't see going with all mediums. I would think there will always be the need for deeps in a yard. 

[Ben Framed]

The one thing I would most defiantly change from the start is using plastic foundation instead of going foundation-less. Especially with the honey boxes. Brood, I am still foundation-less, But that may also change to plastic.

[Oldbeavo]

Acebird
I have been away for a while, we run plastic foundation, how would that go through the table saw?
What was your foundation? How did you go taking a super off? Did the bottoms of the frames come off the top bars or QX OK?

[Acebird]

Acebird
I have been away for a while, we run plastic foundation, how would that go through the table saw?
What was your foundation? How did you go taking a super off? Did the bottoms of the frames come off the top bars or QX OK?

If the top bars are clean to start with the bees won't attach the comb to them so no problem separating boxes.  That being said you should try a couple of hives to test before going hog wild.  All beekeeping is local.
Plastic should go through the table saw with a carbide blade.  If the foundation is wax watch out for the wires.  Wear eye protection.

[Acebird]

The one thing I would most defiantly change from the start is using plastic foundation instead of going foundation-less. Especially with the honey boxes. Brood, I am still foundation-less, But that may also change to plastic.

Due to manipulations they can get mixed.  Mixing always causes problems.